Rio Tinto Alcan Fort William United Kingdom

Workers during the aluminum smelter at Fort William have now been informed that the proprietors tend to be reviewing its functions.

The statement from Rio Tinto said the review would add its assets in Lochaber.

The plant is just one of the largest employers in your community. It really is considered to support more the 160 full-time jobs.

The Scottish federal government stated Highlands and Islands business had been "engaging with all the business" to understand the potential impacts regarding the statement.

The smelter is Rio Tinto's just operational website in the UK and is unique because it creates a unique energy from two hydro-electric schemes.

A person is in Fort William and the other at nearby Kinlochleven.

The Lochaber challenge

Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland company and economy editor

Image copyright Phillip Williams

The Fort William hydro-powered smelter has actually significantly more than 160 employees. Around 25 % of them managers and technical specialists. It was established in 1929. Another at Kinlochleven was closed-in 2000.

When Rio Tinto Alcan also sealed its smelter in Lynemouth, Northumberland in 2012, it was seen as a "significant challenge" for the sole remaining UK plant in Lochaber.

The plant supervisor blogged 3 years ago: "there have been considerable synergies and economies of scale your Lynemouth businesses offered in natural product offer and useful expertise and assistance. Lochaber has become basically a standalone business in britain and has had to adapt quickly to this brand-new mode of procedure".

The organization owns 116, 000 miles of hill surface, most of that its two hydro systems' rain catchment area. It has four dams and 90 megawatts of set up ability.

The estate stretches from Kinlochleven into the south, including the Mamore mountains and Grey Corries, to Laggan within the east, making the company the 8th biggest landowner in Scotland.

Fort William is the tiniest of nine smelters the business owns across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France and Oman.

Last year, it produced 47, 000 tonnes of aluminum, while the entire division produced 3.322 million tonnes.

On Tuesday, the London-listed organization published its results for the ultimate one-fourth of just last year, saying it faced a "challenging marketplace backdrop".

Chief executive Sam Walsh said the company had been "rigorously managing" its price base a year ago: "we'll continue steadily to focus on self-disciplined handling of costs and capital to maximise cashflow generation throughout 2016."

A Scottish government spokeswoman stated: "this is an anxious time for Rio Tinto workers and their own families who're afflicted with this development.

"The Scottish federal government is totally committed to working with the industry over these challenging times.

"Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Business and Minister Fergus Ewing spoke with Rio Tinto today and HIE is engaging because of the organization to comprehend the potential effects regarding the announcement.